Spoilers
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a 12 year old little girl called Ems. She was getting ready to leave primary school and head off to big scary secondary school. However as a right of passage, the year 7’s before they left, used to put on a performance for the rest of the school & their parents to see. Her teachers thinking it would help the pupils out in secondary, decided they should do much ado about nothing & become the first primary school in sussex to do a play in Shakespearean language for the most part. The year group all watched the 1993 film for inspiration & to see how real stories are told. So she went to drama club, & she sat there & wrote notes, & adapted bits of the play in her English book, while watching all the popular pretty perfect kids go up for the main roles in the play, she didn’t want to be a hero, she was just enjoying that everyone was having fun. & then came the comedy section & her teacher just looked at her & went do you want to make people laugh, she said yes. She was cast a Dogberry the head of the night watch (no not from thrones people {winter is coming [drink]}). After weeks of rehearsing & getting a best friends fathers police hat & blue flashing portable light, she hit the stage & had the school in hysterics & all the parents laughing. She bossed it. & that was that. she owned a week’s long production at the age of 12 & retired from acting (some would also say comedy but others don’t). & since then she has never seen Much Ado About Nothing… until tonight.
Yep I channelled my inner Michael Keaton at the age of 12 & went yep that’s my performance world done, without even knowing I was channelling Michael Keaton. My friend (who was a fellow policemen In the play) got me copy of the film for my 30th birthday as a joke to do with our childhood memories. But I hadn’t seen it since so tonight for some reason, god know why because my brain doesn’t. I am drawn to watching this. So lets do this & see how good it is in retrospect, especially as im now an adult & I understand all the messages behind it.
If you ask Sir Ken to do something, make sure its Shakespeare. Oh boy does he direct it well & act in it superbly. I mean theres levels to acting I know but the fact that he is doing that level of acting & that level of directing (minus the last draw out crane scene of the last 2 minutes that’s a shambles) is amazing. It really is something to behold & you sit there & you look at it & you go oh wow.
I have one huge reservation about the entire film & that is the actor they picked to play Claudio. Robert Sean Leonard. There is a point where the epic Denzel Washington is looking at him as he delivers a monologue & trying to be emotional. He just looks at him like come on mate, this is the best you’ve got. This is Shakespeare you’re playing the handsome charismatic young lead & you are ballsing it up. If anyone did this to Denzel now he just would accept it. Its so bad that hes so bad & every time he had something grand to say I was sitting there going oh this is going to be cringe Claudio, just stop please. Im sure as 12 year olds we did a better job.
Sir Ken & Dame Emma being Beatrice & Benedick is amazing. I mean I know they were a couple at the time, but they really do bounce off each other & it’s a joy to watch. How dare Sir Ken break her heart all those years ago. Ultimate couple goals there.
Keanu isnt on screen long enough to make his villain as menacing as he should be. I mean i know back in those days it was shocking to see stuff like that & to be accused of everything like that but really all these smart men just fell for it & didnt enquire further. & then he just runs off & is just about captured at the end… urgh. Yeah in the modern world that wouldnt happen like that, okay back then it would but still. Hes in it because hes Keanu & was the up & coming star & not an unknown unlike the love interests, he could have really nailed it but doesnt.
Denzel even oozed smoothness then, he really did. I mean his level of smooth is undeniable now, but still. Oh how cool was he. He gives the best performance of the film, by a mile. Also when he match makes everyone & then they all get married at the end & they go ahhh your not married mate & hes just like meh…. thats like me. It really is. Maybe thats why i recognise that performance.
The setting is perfect & so is the costume . Okay that last crane shoot for the 90s was very clever for then but now you look at them all dancing & not really focusing to much on one thing or another in particular & you look at it & just go oh really. At least cinema has improved with those visuals. The setting & style was spot on but there wasnt to much oh wow thats lush cinematography there, which is a shame. Sir Ken would now look at this & be like hang on why didnt i do that or this.
So Michael Keaton, the man i had to channel. Hes only in like 3 scenes & okay yes i was waiting for them to see how good i was, but he does just boss them all. What a man. He is so funny & cool. No wonder i had the school in the palm of my hand. If i only gave 10% of the performance he did, i would have had people laughing. I think its time to return & go back into it (hahaha never). Anyhow yes he was cool. Felt a bit sorry for Ben Elton. He was literally there to be his lap dog wasnt he.
No one had met this other cousin os they were all just like ahh yea of course i will marry some random woman ive never met before, were they really that gullible back then & was that really so shocking.
Im glad ive rewatched this after not seeing this for 20 years. Its still a clever play & very well acted for the most part (other than who ive said let it down). Im going to go to bed now imagining imaginary horses to ride arent i?